Hinkley asks Port to squeeze Dockers

Power midfielder Ollie Wines gets plenty of work in at training. Picture: Sarah Reed Source: News Limited

PORT Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley wants his players to take the initiative and put the squeeze on Fremantle today to avoid a repeat of last year's thrashing at Subiaco.

Hinkley said the pressure the Dockers placed on his team in a 74 point defeat in round 22 last year was "as good as we've ever seen". But after a summer spent teaching his players to handle the heat, Hinkley wants to flip the script.

"We need to be able to put pressure on them," Hinkley said. "Not worry so much about the pressure they're going to put on us."

Ross Lyon's side hasn't been at its suffocating best since the early rounds of the season, recording just two wins from its past five games.

The Dockers have also travelled to Adelaide without injured key defenders Luke McPharlin and Zac Dawson, presenting Port's forward line with an ideal opportunity to take over the game if the midfield can provide enough supply.

"First and foremost against Fremantle one of the biggest challenges you have is getting it in there enough," Hinkley said.

"We need to make sure we provide enough of those entries for our forwards to go to work, because our forwards will present a significant risk to them I'm sure."

The Dockers are able to bully most sides at the stoppages because of the dominance of ruckman Aaron Sandilands and the big bodies of Michael Barlow, Nat Fyfe and David Mundy.

But Hinkley believes his midfield is well placed to meet the challenge.

"I'm really comfortable with the size of Boak, Wines, Ebert, Hartlett, Polec," he said.

"Freo have some great midfielders but we've got some great size to go against them we think."

The Power coach also stressed the importance of preparing to limit Fremantle's scoring.

Power players put through their paces at training. Picture: Sarah Reed Source: News Limited

With so much focus on how Port's second ranked attack will match up against the league's best defence, Hinkley hasn't forgotten the threat players like Matthew Pavlich, Hayden Ballantyne and Chris Mayne will pose.

"We spend the best part of our week working on defence," Hinkley said.

"They've been the best defensive team in the competition for a long time now and we just need to make sure we're working to get somewhere near that."

Hinkley sprang a mild surprise at selection this week by handing another opportunity to promoted rookie Kane Mitchell.

The West Australian was facing an uphill battle to get back in the side after having his position filled by Jared Polec and Matt White this season.

But Hinkley says Mitchell's form in the SANFL — where he's shown an improved ability to win the inside ball — was impossible to ignore.

"He's been rewarded for his performance," Hinkley said.

"Like we've done with Sam Gray, Ben Newton, Paul Stewart — blokes have been rewarded for consistency of form.

"We have to honour that and make sure they know if they keep delivering those results they'll get a game."

Mitchell should help Port in its endeavour to win the uncontested ball, which has proved decisive against Fremantle this season.

The Dockers have averaged 70 fewer uncontested possessions in their losses this season, but were far better in this area in a win against West Coast last week.

"I listened to Ross talk after the game last week and he made a point of saying they controlled the ball better," Hinkley said.

"That might have been a slight tinkering of their game style, I don't know, but I can only assume they're going to play similar this week."